Comment history

My children were in the Youngstown public schools. My daughter attended Kirkmere and Volney, my son Kirkmere and STEM. I removed my daughter from the school district because there was a marked change in her behavior and attitude with attending Volney. As the year progressed she didn't care about her grades and she became a very angry person.

Both of my children are gifted but the program was stopped by the time my son entered 4th grade. We chose to put him in STEM. He liked the curriculum and teachers but could not stand the behavior of the other children. He stated that the teachers spent more time yelling at the misfits than teaching. After half a year in the program he begged me to transfer him to another school. I removed both of my children from the school system and have NO plans to send them back.

The teachers were competent, my children's math scores are better than their friends who have attended Catholic schools. The problem is not the teachers, it is the behavior of the children, which starts with the parents and how the child is raised in the home. You can throw all of the money in the world at the Youngstown schools, but until you fix the home life for many of the students, nothing is going to change. There are great students in the district willing to learn but the classroom experience is marred by the behavior of a few.

One final comment, if you have ever attended a music concert or awards ceremony a the Youngstown School District you can understand why the children don't behave in the classroom. Their parents, grandparents, aunts, uncles...... are constantly talking on their cell phones, talking to each other and yelling rude comments. I saw that type of behavior for 8 long years and I don't miss it at all. How can you expect the children to behave when their role models can't?

I agree that this is a serious matter and someone should be held responsible but is it REALLY necessary to see Bob Hagan's mug on the television acting like he cares about anything other than getting is face on TV?

Hagan will find any reason to get his name in the paper or his face on the television. Doesn't he have more important work to do then worry about Rush Limbaugh's freedom of speech and sponsor's freedom to withdrawal their advertising dollars. Turn the knob Hagan if you don't like Limbaugh.